A Simple Dare
by AnOctaveJump
Summary: Harry Potter accepts a duel from Draco Malfoy. Everything takes a turn for the worst.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first story. I would appreciate any reviews, and advice. Please point out character and spelling errors, so I may fix them. Please enjoy.

**Chapter 1. A Simple Dare**

Roaming through the halls after curfew was supposed to be rebellious, perhaps a fun thrill for some people. Unfortunately, it was not fun in the least bit for one Harry James Potter.

Dares, another thing that was supposed to be a bit more enjoyable than this. Being dared by a friend to do something like; eat a teaspoon of hot sauce, or tell your crush to like them. This was anything but that.

* * *

Directly after lunch, and Golden Trio were walking out of the Great Hall talking about how much the upcoming quidditch game was going to be.

"But 'Mione, it's Hufflepuff vs Slytherin, I think Hufflepuff will win. Those greasy snakes won't be able to hold on to their brooms!" Ron stated.

"Well I think that everyone has a fair chance. Even if it's Slytherin." Hermione said.

"What do you think mate, Harry?" Ron asked, but Harry didn't answer. He was staring into space, lost in thought. "Earth to Harry!" Ron said while snapping his fingers under Harry's nose.

"Huh? What is it Ron?"

"Did you hear what 'Mione said, she thinks that Slytherin could beat Hufflepuff!"

"Oh, I...I think it's possible..." Harry responded. 'especially without Cedric.' he thought.

* * *

You see, just last year, Cedric Diggory had died during the Triwizard Tourament. Harry felt extremely guilty ever since, he could also tell the other Hufflepuffs had mixed feelings about him. He was in deep thought about this while walking. That is when it happened. Harry walked straight into someone.

"Hey! Watch it!" A voice cried out. Harry looked up and saw it was none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Potter really, didn't your parents teach you to watch where you're walking! Oh wait, you don't have any." Sneered a malicious Malfoy.

"Shut up Malfoy, I'm not in the mood." Harry responded very annoyed.

"You're the one who owes me an apology. Come on Potter, apologize." he spat his name.

"Drop dead Malfoy." Harry mumbled as he tried to get past him to get to Griffindor Tower.

"Scared of apologizing Potter? You're scared of everything aren't you?"

"Let me go Malfoy! I am not!" Harry was getting increasingly annoyed.

"Then prove it Potter! Meet me at 10:00 in the to empty classroom by charms class."

"Now why would I do that."

"To prove you're not a chicken." To this Crabb and Goyle made clucking noises, they looked very stupid. "I guess you're not as much of a hero as everyone makes you out to be. I guess your parents died for nothing, except to let you live to murder Diggory." Malfoy knew exactly how to push Harry's buttons, especially when he was in a bad mood.

"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled out. "I'll do your stupid dare. Afterwards leave me alone!"

"It's a deal Potter."

Malfoy walked away with a swish of his robes that Professor Snape would be proud of.

* * *

"Harry! What were you thinking! You can't do that, you'll just get hurt or in trouble!" Hermione was very annoyed and upset.

"But if he doesn't all the Slitherins will bug him now Hermione!" Ron said.

"Hermione..he insulted my parents, I have to do it anyways, I agreed to." Harry said.

"But-" Hermione started, "But nothing! I'm going and I'm going through with it! It's final." Harry said.

He then walked off in a huff to get his supplies for potions class.

* * *

Harry ran up the stairs of the tower, and ran to the bathroom and threw up. The thoughts of him causing Cedric's death flooded in, hard. He started to burst out in tears. Then remembered that he couldn't cry now. He had to go to potions. He couldn't show weakness, or he'd be walked all over. He took some deep breaths and pulled himself together, and put on his emotional mask. Then, he trudged down the stairs to potion. Harry made it barely in time, and got a glare from Snape.

He made it most of the way through class, nearly putting too much armadillo bile in his potion. Luckily, Hermione could tell he was troubled and kept an eye on his potion. She worried constantly about him failing. She managed to grab the bottle just in time before Harry poured it in.

The bell rang and everyone packed up to leave. On the way out Malfoy hissed "Ten tonight potter, don't forget." He sneered with a malicious grin on this face. Harry gave him his best "Drop dead" glare back.

* * *

Before he knew it, it was 9:40 Pm, everyone was asleep. So Harry snuck out. He grabbed his invisibility cloak to hide from any teachers checking hallways after managed to walk to the meeting place without any trouble. He took off the cloak and shoved it in his robe pocket before entering the room.

"Oi! What the-" Harry cried out when his arms were suddenly being pinned to his sides. He was being held tightly by Crabb and Goyle.

"Hello Potter. Oh don't look at me like that, I never said what we'd be doing, or if it would be fair." Malfoy said.

"As you know, quite a few students here have it out for you. Including most of the Slytherins, and there are a good amount of Hufflepuffs that wish you'd died in place of Diggory. Now why can't you give someone else the spotlight for once? Like all the attention? We'll give you attention. " Malfoy finished, then kicked Harry's stomach.

Malfoy gave Crabb and Goyle the chance to beat Harry up, as he was too proud to pummel someone himself. Once they finished, Harry had a bleeding nose, black eye, and probably a few cracked ribs. Tears were streaming down with face, mixed with blood and sweat.

"Good night, Potter." With that Malfoy left with his henchmen, leaving Harry hurt and alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2. An Interesting Outcome**

Getting beaten up is one thing, but by the hands of your mortal enemy stinks. Malfoy and his cronies had left, so poor Harry was alone on the cold stone floor. He laid there for awhile, contemplating what to do next. He checked his watch, which showed he had been gone half an hour already. He knew that Hermione and Ron would probably check to see if he was back within the next half hour. Harry decided he had to get up off the ground.

He grabbed on a nearby chair, and attempted to pull himself up. But the chair slid and fell down with a big "BANG!". He was too hurt and annoyed to think about the noise. He instead grabbed for a desk, this time successfully pulling himself up. It took him a few minutes to get his balance. He checked his watch again which read 10:38. He knew he had to get a move on. Harry collected himself for a minute, then painfully trekked back to Gryffindor Towner.

Unfortunately, what Harry didn't know is that the sound from the chair echoed down the halls where he was headed.

* * *

Severus Snape was doing his regular rounds. Every Thursday night from 10:00-11:30. He didn't have to do it, but he was up and around anyways making potions to stock the hospital wing. He occasionally came across the odd student. They were usually busy, and didn't notice him, so he had a perfect advantage. The first 'prey' he found was a first year Slytherin, who was unfortunately lost. Not unfortunate for the student, but for Snape, who liked to give detentions to wandering students. But he would not punish a lost child from his own house.

The next students he saw the annoying little love birds type. The kind that like to sneak away to somewhere 'romantic', just to eat each other's faces. The archways down deserted halls made good spots for the reckless teenagers. When it was couples like this, he enjoyed stalking quietly up to them. Then he would say in an intimidating but sarcastic voice, "Why are you out of your nice warm beds at this hour?". Every time he did this (too his amusement) the students would be startled and jump. He would then assign detentions and deduct points, that is, as long as they weren't in Slytherin.

He continued 'stalking' up and down the halls. Everything was peaceful, except for a few old gossiping paintings who stopped talking once they saw him. He started to head back to his chambers when he heard a loud "BANG!". He turned on the spot and headed towards the noise. He could hear something as he neared an empty hallway. It sounded like loud breathing and footsteps. He stayed still and moved against the wall, beside a suit of armour. Sure enough, the footsteps got louder and sounded right past him. There was also another sound that sounded like desperate panting, and tears being shed. He was thoroughly confused, as he couldn't see anything there. That is, until he saw something red, reflecting the moonlight.

Some small drips of red were on the floor. Small, but noticeable. He went up to it, and used a spell to check what basic matter was. It was blood, mixed with salt and water, presumably tears or sweat. He then heard another sound, one of someone slipping and skidding on Filch's beautifully waxed floors. The footsteps stopped. He carefully followed the sound of heavy breathing and droplets of tears. He stayed against the wall behind statues. Being always dressed in all black had its perks. He slid towards the noise. It became clear that whoever was there was not visible.

"Probably a disillusion charm." He thought to himself.

He quickly moved from behind the statue and said,

"Revelio."

Nothing happened. Except for a swoosh of robes and the footsteps of someone running away.

He kept following the stranger at a distance. For a while he thought he lost the mysterious person. That is, until he heard a screech of waxed floor and someone yell out in pain.

He ran to the noise and saw a foot. He reached forwards and to his surprise, grabbed an invisibility cloak. The owner was none other than Harry Potter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3. A Horrid Time**

Harry stumbled out of the classroom, feeling unbalanced and disoriented. He still had enough sense to slip his invisibility cloak back on.

As he stumbled on in the direction in which he thought Gryffindor tower was, he thought he heard someone talking. He nearly brushed it off as his imagination, when he heard footsteps. He started to panic, which made his already laboured breathing louder. He saw a glimpse of something move, but in the Hogwarts castle, it could be anything.

He stopped to rest against the wall for a moment. When suddenly, a dark figure dashed out from his side and pointed a wand at him. They quietly, but viciously said "Revelio!". The spell did nothing. Harry was using his invisibility cloak, not a disillusion charm. He quickly moved away, nearly tripping himself several times.

He kept walking while trying to fix his rapid breathing. He decided taking deep slow breaths would help. Unfortunately, when he tried to breathe deeply, he felt a horrible, sharp pain. He gasped, which only made the pain worse. Tears started falling down his face, the pain was too much to hold in. He decided to keep moving, while his bloodied nose and tears left a trail behind him.

* * *

He eventually figured out how to breathe without it hurting too much. He kept walking in the same direction, thinking of what to say to his friends when he got back. Hermione would probably say something like,

"I told you not to go, I knew something like this would happen."

She would be annoyed and flustered at first, but she would eventually sympathize with him.

Ron would most likely verbally attacked the Slytherins with a,

"Those slimy, rotten, no good snakes!".

* * *

Harry was suddenly snapped from his thoughts when he felt his foot sliding out from under him. Before he knew it, there was a loud screech, then WHAM! He fit the floor very hard, twisting is ankle.

"Oh great, just what I needed." he mumbled.

He looked at his foot and tried to put a little weight on it. He cried out in pain, his foot was either broken, or he had twisted it badly. He sat there helpless, thinking how to get a message to his friends.

He was torn from his thoughts when his cloak was pulled off him, and someone said,

"Potter!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

"Potter!"

Snape called out, after he pulled an invisibility cloak off of the mysterious person he had been chasing. It was, of course Potter. He wasn't completely surprised, after all it was the 'Golden Trio' that usually made the most trouble.

Snape and Harry locked eyes for a moment, both glaring with a look of utter contempt and loathing. Unlike the other times this happened, Snape's expression softened slightly. It turned into one of slight curiosity and worry.

"Potter, what happened to your face?" He asked, his voice hinting his annoyance for the boy.

"I..I fell, sir." Harry responded.

"I can see that, but I didn't inquire to why you're on the floor. What happened to your face."

This time it wasn't a question, it was a command.

"I hit it when I fell."

"You are lying, and we both know it. What. Happened. To. Your. Face."

"I hit it when I fell." Harry said, with a bit of anger and annoyance in with voice.

"Very well Potter, keep your little secrets for now. I will find out later. Come, we are going to the hospital wing."

With that said, Snape looked at Harry while waiting for him to get off the floor.

Harry slowly pulled himself up, using the wall to support himself. Snape raised an eyebrow, thinking only his face was hurt. He turned and started walking, expecting Harry to follow. Harry did his best to keep up, stumbling most of the time. His balance was still suffering, and his vision blurred. He usually hid when he was hurt fairly well, but Snape could see right through him. Severus walked slowly and patiently, acting as though Harry wasn't hurt. They made it to the hospital wing.

* * *

Snape expected to ditch Harry here. But instead of dumping Potter into Poppy's care, he was met by Prof. McGonagall on her way out.

"Oh Mr. Potter, what happened to you?" She looked Harry up and down, quiet concerned as he usually got himself into the worst sort of trouble. She quickly changed her attention to Snape.

"Severus, what happened?" She inquired.

"I do not know, except that he was sneaking around after curfew, and slipped on a freshly waxed floor. He refuses to tell me the truth about his face. Where is Poppy, so I can go finish my work for the night?"

"Oh Severus, I'm afraid she's out visiting a sick relative."

"Can you take the boy?"

"I would, but it's my turn to take rounds, and reinforce the wards."

"Then what do I do with him!"

"I'm afraid Severus, that you will have to take him."

"But I have work to do! I don't have time to play 'nurse maid' to the brat!"

"Calm down Severus. It's only for a few hours, until Albus or Poppy comes back. Now I advise you floo him down with you so you can take care of him. Good night Severus, Mr. Potter."

With that McGonagall left to do her work, leaving poor Severus alone and stuck with Harry.

"As unfortunate as this is, I am responsible for you for the time being. You will be quiet and listen to me. Now come." Snape said.

He then walked over to the floo, half dragging Potter behind him. He grabbed a handful of floo powder and said,

"Potion's Laboratory Office."

Severus stepped out as graceful as ever, while Harry stumbled out nearly falling over himself again. Snape grabbed him by his arm (His grip a little too tight), and sat him on a black, leather couch.

"Do not move, and do not touch anything!"

With that Snape left the room.

Harry looked around. Snape had pulled him past the office, and into a room he'd never seen. He recalled him muttering something to the wall, then being in this room. He was still feeling quite disoriented and sick.

"Probably from the floo, maybe a concussion." He grimly thought.

Snape came back into the room, carrying a bag with an assortment of items. Severus looked Potter up and down, noting his hand on his side, uneven breathing, and unfocused eyes that seemed to stare through everything. He took his wand out of his pocket, and performed a diagnostic spell. The list read off:

2 Cracked Ribs, 1 Bruised Eye, Broken Nose, Broken Foot, Moderate Concussion.

"Well Potter, it seems we have work to do."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5.**

"Well Potter, It seems we have work to do." Snape said.

He decided to start with the less serious injuries. A quick episky fixed Potter's broken, and crooked nose. Snape had a decent knowledge in healing, at least enough to care for himself. But the cracked ribs would have to wait for Poppy's touch. He took out a special balm for Potter's bruised eye, and tried to apply it. But Potter flinched and turned away, he didn't like anyone touching his face. Let alone Snape.

"Stay still and stop sulking, so I can fix your eye." Snape said, getting annoyed.

Harry carefully turned back. This time he didn't flinch when his eye was touched, but instead glared daggers at Snape. Snape looked back at him, with a look of annoyance and loathing in his dark, cold eyes. He was nearly finished working on Potter's black eye, which was now nearly swollen shut. After a few moments of silence, Potter spoke.

"Why are you doing this?"

"It is my duty as your professor, as no one else can at the moment."

"Why can't anyone else?"

Snape would hear the discomfort of the situation in Potter's voice. He responded,

"The headmaster is out, working. Madam Pomfrey is out assisting an ill relative. Professor McGonagall is doing her rounds, and checking the wards. Everyone else, is asleep like you should have been.

"Where is Professor Dumbledore right now?" Harry asked.

"That is none of your business or concern. Now be quiet so I can work." Snape responded, his patience starting to wear.

Snape rummaged through the collection of items he collected in his bag, and pulled out a small vial.

"Drink all of this." He said while passing it to Potter.

Harry looked at it, apprehensively.

"It's not poisonous. If I wanted to poison you, I would already have done so."

Potter still looked worried.

"It's for the pain in your foot and ribs, which I imagine you are suffering from. Drink. It."

Harry still didn't look completely convinced, but still drank it. The potion smoothed out the pain enough for Harry to breath properly.

Snape then moved on to Harry's foot. It was twisted at an odd angle, and was swollen nearly twice its size. Snape, without any warning, twisted Harry's foot back into place. Harry flinched and cried out in pain.

"What was that for!" Harry said.

"To fix your foot." Snape responded. "Now stop moving so I can finish."

Snape finished by splinting Harry's foot.

"You will stay here until Madam Pomfrey comes back." Snape said. "You still haven't told me who beat you."

"No one beat me, I fell, twisted my ankle, and hit my face."

"Stop lying. I'm going to find out eventually. It's best you tell me. Right. Now."

They both glared at each other, Snape's dark eyes vs Harry's bright emerald eyes.

"I accepted a challenge and failed." Harry finally admitted.

"Who challenged you, and why?"

Harry was silent, thinking over his answer carefully.

"It was my fault. I hit someone by accident, and they wanted to get even."

"Lies Potter. Are we going to do this the hard way?"

Harry looked confused.

"They hard way...sir?"

"I hope you have been practising your occlumency."

"But-"

"Legilimens."

* * *

Snape easily made it into Potter's mind. Not that he thought he'd have any trouble, they had only been during occlumency for two weeks. He saw random memories, mostly good ones pushed up to the front. Memories like Potter's first time flying a broom, winning The House Cup, and then one of his earliest memories, Lily holding him as a baby. Now was not the time to get emotional. He pushed the memory and his emotions away, for the time being. He kept digging deeper into Potter's mind. The memories started to get sadder, darker, and angrier. Snape saw glimpses of when that Weasley boy wouldn't even talk to him, to when Miss Chang already had a date for the dance. He kept going deeper and deeper. He saw Potter walking straight into Malfoy. The memory started to almost scramble, it became distorted.

"That is odd." he thought.

He could still feel the emotion the memory carried, even if he couldn't see it. It was guilt mixed with dread, then intense and anger and hatred. It was some of the strongest hatred he had ever felt. He dug a little further, and found Mr. Malfoy, Crabb, and Goyle beating up Harry. Here the memory was clear and easy to see. He pushed forwards in the memory, and came to where he pulled the cloak off of Potter. The memory started to get blurred again. He had enough information anyways, so he pulled himself out of Potter's mind.

* * *

Potter was staring at him, with utter hatred and contempt.

"I suppose you're going to tell me how foolish and arrogant I am now?"

"Potter, I don't even know why you were fighting."

"Wait, you don't? I thought-"

"The memory was distorted. I believe you blurred it."

"But I can't do occlumency."

"This wasn't full occlumency, but it was a small part of it. You must be emotionally invested in that memory, to the point where you can block it."

Snape sounded a little bit interested. "Maybe Potter isn't a complete failure at occlumency after all" he thought

"Potter, tell me what happened with Mr. Malfoy."

"He...He..insulted my parents." Harry mumbled,

"He insulted what?"

"My parents."

"Why did he?"

"I..I bumped into him and, um, refused to apologize."

"That lead to them beating you?"

"Yes, sir."

Harry was too tired to care anymore. He just wanted to let his friends know he was alright, then go to bed. He glanced at his watch, he had been here an hour.

"I am going to finish some potions. Stay here, and don't touch anything."

With that Snape left Harry alone in the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6.**

Alone, for hours in room where you can't leave the confinement of a sofa. That is enough to either drive someone insane, or cause someone to be incredibly bored. Harry was bored out of his mind. Even if he wanted to poke around a little, he couldn't. Not with his foot in its current condition. Another thing that annoyed Harry, was the fact that it was at least past 1:00 AM. He hadn't had any sleep, and he was in a strange place. He refused to sleep in a strange place, in an awkward situation, especially Snape's place.

Of course, it is hard for one to stay awake without any stimulant, like caffeine. Plus, he had a concussion that made his head throb. So, Harry eventually fell asleep against his will. And of course, tonight of all nights; he forgot to even attempt his occlumency.

* * *

His dreams started nice enough. He was back at age eleven, and was seeing Hogwarts Castle for the first time. Like many of the kids who grew up with muggles, Harry was full of wonder. He walked in the castle, and waited to be sorted.

"Potter, Harry."

His name was called, his heart leapt with nervousness and excitement. He walked carefully up to the sorting hat, nervous the fact that everyone was starring at him. He sat down and the hat was placed on his head. Harry begged the hat for Gryffindor over Slytherin. The hat proclaimed,

"Gryffindor!"

Everyone cheered, and something was placed in his hands. It was the Triwizard Tournament Cup.

He then heard someone say, cruelly and silkily,

"Kill the spare."

The room flashed, everyone was back to their regular ages. Everyone gasped and gaped at him. Then someone in the back of the room with a hood placed over their head said,

"Potter the murderer."

The hood was lowered, it was of course Malfoy. He grinned maliciously at Harry.

Harry tried to run away, but the Hufflepuffs surrounded him,

"You should have died instead!"

"You killed him!"

"No! He murdered him!"

They shouted, some getting vicious and hitting him. All the voices blurred together, and the world slowed and turned grey. Everyone froze, literally. A figure wearing a hood, the same as Malfoy's stalked carefully into the Great Hall. He lowered his hood. It was Voldemort.

"I see. It was your fault you know, that boy's death. And this is your worst fear, is it? Everyone turning against you? Everyone will turn at you, eventually. The shock of his death just hasn't worn off yet."

With that said, you pulled the hood back over his head, and walked out. With his back to Harry, he waved his hand and the colour and life came back into the room. Voldemort decided leaving Harry with his worst fears was a fun way to tear at him. All the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins started screaming, and hitting him. His wand wasn't in his pocket.

Harry was trapped.

* * *

Back in the world of the awake; Snape came back after finishing his brewing for the night. He saw that the brat had the audacity to go to sleep.

"At least he can't cause any trouble." he thought.

He went into the kitchen to make himself some strong, black tea. It was going to be a long night. He sat at his desk, which was in the corner of the same room as Potter. He worked on grading essays, and writing notes on new potion ideas and improvements. That is when he heard a whimper.

The quiet boy was snoozing on his couch, and was whimpering in his sleep.

"The brat even whines in his sleep." he thought, returning to work.

The whimpering got louder, and turned into mumbling.

The mumbling then turned into a blood curling scream, as a trickle of blood bled from Harry's scar.

Something was very wrong indeed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7.**

Snape rushed over to Harry, whose mouth was open in a heart-wrenching scream.

"Potter? Potter wake up! POTTER!"

He started shaking Harry, who was very tense. As much as he disliked the boy, no one should suffer in so much agony. He looked over him to see what could be causing it, he then saw the blood coming from his scar. The fact that Harry was asleep and couldn't wake up, made him realise Potter was in a battle. He was trapped, inside his mind.

He stopped for a moment to compose himself, then carefully thought through what he should do.

Snape could try legilimency, but he could be discovered as a spy if the Dark Lord was in his mind. If he was discovered, he could become trapped too. He knew what he needed to do, but he needed Albus.

He ran over to the floo and fire-called Professor Mcgonagall.

"Minerva, do you know when Albus will return? It's quite important."

Mcgonagall walked over to the fire and responded,

"He said he would be back by 2:00 AM at the latest."

It was 1:40 AM. He could come back anytime.

"What about Poppy?"

"She's staying at her Aunt's place, why Severus?"

Snape didn't know how to tell her.

"Come over here."

Mcgonagall flooed over into Snape's personal quarters. The moment she stepped in she could hear Harry's screams. His cries and scream's were getting quieter and hoarser. He was slowly tiring.

"Severus! What happened!"

"I believe he is trapped in his own mind, most likely with the Dark Lord."

"I'm going to get Poppy, she might be able to help!"

With that, Mcgonagall ran to the floo and called Poppy over from her aunt's. Her aunt was doing a bit better, so Poppy came.

"My! What happened to him Severus!"

Minerva explained and Poppy checked Harry over.

"He can only take so much of this, he's in extreme agony." Poppy said.

Just then the clock struck 2:00 AM. Snape exited the room, and went to check if Albus was back.

He checked the Great Hall, and the kitchen, so Snape figured Albus would be in his office is he was back. He rushed to the gargoyles and gave the password:

"Canary Cream."

The moving stairs brought him up quickly. He knocked on the door and heard someone say in a very fatigued voice,

"Come in, Severus."

Snape wondered how Dumbledore always knows who's at his door.

"Albus, I need you to come with me to my quarters."

"What's the problem my boy?"

"Potter."

"Now Severus, I know you dislike the boy but-"

"It's not that, I think he's fighting the Dark Lord in his mind, right now."

"Oh..well let's go!"

They both ran to the floo and got to Snape's quarters. Harry's mouth was still open in a scream, but hardly any sound came out. He had been yelling loudly for so long he couldn't anymore.

"Oh Albus! He can't take much more of this!" Poppy said, she was worried sick and close to tears.

Snape started telling Dumbledore his plan.

"I believe the best way to get him out, is for me to go into his mind. I have been in his mind many times when practising occlumency with him. I will know my way around better than you, Albus."

"Why didn't you do that earlier Severus!" Minerva said,

"I have reason to believe the Dark Lord may be in his mind. If he traps me too, I'll then need Albus to pull us both out." Snape explained.

"Very well, let's do it then." Dumbledore said, looking gravely at his young student.

"I'll need you to hold is eyes open, I need steady eye contact for this to succeed."

Poppy carefully peeled Harry's eyes open.

Severus looked deeply into the emerald eyes, who's pupils where the size of a pin prick, and whispered,

"Legilimens."

What that, Snape was pulled into Harry's mind.

* * *

He entered at the front of Harry's mind. Instead of the happy memories that were there before, there was darkness. He barely had to move forwards at all, before he hit the bad memories. A select few were unfolding over and over again. They were ones of all the destruction that Harry had caused, by just being himself. One of them was when everyone thought he was the heir of Slytherin, where everyone was avoiding him like the plague. There were many memories of people looking at him oddly, people whispering. The largest one which towered above the others, though behind them, was one of Cedric's death. Snape watched it play out.

"Kill the spare."

He heard a voice say.

The boy with Potter was dead. He saw the image of Cedric that came from the Dark Lord's wand. He saw Potter dragging the boy's body back to the port key. He also saw all the grief Harry had over his death. This memory was merged with another, it was the one of Malfoy taunting Harry. Malfoy saying that it was Harry's fault that Cedric died. Those two memories had merged with a third. It was Potter as a child, when the Triwizard Cup appeared in his hands, then he turned back to his original age. Snape realized this wasn't a normal memory. If it was one of a regular dream, he wouldn't remember it, not in this part of his mind. Snape took a second to compose himself, and pushed aside his emotions.

Then, he stepped through into the peculiar memory.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8.**

Snape stepped through the odd memory, shuddering at the cold tingle as he passed through. Though he was used to going into memories, this one was different. It was colder than usual, much colder. His vision blurred momentarily. When his sight focused, he had to stop for a moment to take in the scene.

The Great Hall was full of students, half were in a massive fight, with Potter in the middle. The Hufflepuff and Slytherins were ganged up around him, throwing insults, and punches. To the left, the Gryffindors stood, just watching, not caring. They talked among each other of betrayal. To the right were the Ravenclaws. They just ignored the whole scene, chatting and reading like nothing was happening. Except for Cho Chang, who looked upset and terrified.

He walked towards the fight, with his wand in his hand.

"Stop fighting!" he shouted with force, but no one noticed him as he pushed past them towards Potter.

"Murderer! You deserve to suffer!"

"It all your fault!"

"No one cares about you!"

"I wish you would drop dead!"

Each insult was reinforced with a slap, punch or kick.

Snape got to the middle of the ring, where Potter was stuck. He looked carefully at the scene, thinking how to get both of them to safety. He started pulling and pushing the brawling students off of Harry.

"Potter, where's your wand?" Severus had to shout above the noise of the crowd.

"I don't..have it!" Harry panted, trying to catch his breath.

Snape remembered he had to get Potter out of here as soon as possible. He raised his wand and casted a few stunning spells at the closest and rowdiest fighters. They landed on the floor with a 'THUD!'. All of the of student involved in the fight were clawing their way through the crowd, attempting beat on poor Harry. Snape grabbed him by the wrist and started heading back the way he came. The crowd was roaring, still mostly focused on Potter, but a few missed punches got to him. A few of the students started pulling out their wands, the worst of the spells were stinging hexes, and stunning spells. Snape kept fighting his way through the crowd. He was doing surprisingly well until a stining hex hit his face.

He could feel his face swelling. His eyes narrowed, streaming burning tears.

Severus continued moving. An Expelliarmus and a bat bogey hex later, he reached where to came into this nightmare.

But there was no door out.

To get them both out, he would have to create a doorway directly out of Harry's mind. He started to open the door. Snape blocked out everything in the background, and started reaching out of the dream. He started to feel the pull of the real, physical world. He tightened his grip of Potter's wrist, then pulled them both out of this nightmarish hell.


End file.
